Yes BKW _could_ do that... but to do that they'd be losing some...

Yes BKW _could_ do that... but to do that they'd be losing some of their stake, and hence I don't think they will. And no one can buy enough of the company to force them to, due to the cross holding.

In fact, those sort of measures were probably the sort of thing Perpetual were referring to, when they were saying the cross holding was leading to less value for shareholders.

Any other company enough people could get on board and then force those sort of changes. But not these tightly held family driven entities!

In the short term it might mean glaringly huge value discrepancies that can't be unlocked for shareholders. But in the long run it protects their interests and allows them to be conservative, responsible stewards of capital, making acquisitions at the bottom of the cycle, etc.